Dishwasher Magnets: FREE Cut File & Printable

Let me play out a little scenario of our dishwasher woes. Perhaps you can relate?

Person A sees the dishwasher is getting pretty full and decides to run it. After its cycle, person A pops it open to grab a clean spoon. The green “clean” light is deactivated.

Hours later, person B finishes her bowl of ice cream and decides to be proactive and load it in the dishwasher. Plus, she spies a few used cups lying around to add to the mix. Since it’s getting pretty full, she decides to run it.

Person A walks into the kitchen, perplexed at why the dishwasher is running again. Person B clarifies that she had no idea it was already clean…no green light…not totally full…and they simultaneously shake their heads at their crossed wires and their doubly cleaned dishes. Sigh. And that’s the second time this week!

Has this ever happened in your household? It seemed like it was happening to Mark and I a lot lately…and since we didn’t want to waste any more water than we already have, it was time for a solution. A solution of crafty proportions!

I give to you, Clean & Dirty Dishwasher Magnets!

This actually hearkens back to “clean” and “dirty” magnets my Mom had for our dishwasher growing up…though instead of having two separate ones, I thought I’d do a combo move to make it even easier, so we’re more likely to use it. Mark and I have already put ours to use, making a habit of flipping it to the clean side when starting the dishwasher; and flipping it back to dirty after unloading it. I’m hopeful we can stick to it!

Freebies!

Might this lil number be of use to you, too? Well, then, great! I’d love to share some freebies with you (just remember that these are for personal use only and not for commercial purposes). You have two options: here’s a FREE cut file for you to download, as well as a FREE pdf printable for those without a digital craft-cutter. You can simply buy the Printable Magnet Paper (it’s on sale for 25% off using my affiliate code CLOSET through Saturday, May 31st), print the design, and use scissors to cut the magnets out. Easy as pie!

And in addition to these freebies, I’d like to share the step-by-step tutorial with screenshots for how I created my design. My hope is to help show beginner Silhouette-users how easy it is to do. Also, this was my first time fiddling around in the new V3 software, so I was eager to do a tutorial using some of the new features. For the most part, it was extremely intuitive, so if you’re still putting off the upgrade, I encourage you to go for it. The Silhouette site has the most updated version of the software that worked out a lot of the initial kinks.

Tutorial

To create a perfect circle, drawn an ellipse using the lefthand toolbar, and then use the SCALE window to specify an even width and height. You’ll need to uncheck “lock ratio” to do this.

I decided to fill this circle with the color white, since it will eventually become the white border around my circular magnet.

Next, I created an internal offset to define that white border (essentially a circle perfectly centered within the larger circle). The offset tool is one of my favorites!

Then, I dragged the inner circle to the side and filled it with white, as well (this is necessary for this next step to work). Now, to find the center line of the circle, I used the “draw a line” tool on the left toolbar and drew a straight line top to bottom between the circle, using the grid lines as a guide. Focus on drawing it straight rather than centering it…because in order to center it, all you’ll do it select both the circle and line at once (using the shift key on a Mac), and then open up the ALIGN window and select “align center.”

Now, you’re going to grab your knife from the lefthand toolbar and follow that same line from top to bottom. This will slice your circle in half perfectly, creating two new half-circle shapes. (I find it helps to zoom in close when doing this kind of detail work.)

Zoomed in, you’ll see there’s now a slight gap between the two halves. Close that gap so the line overlaps, temporarily group the two by selecting them both with the shift key and grouping them (command G). Then, center the smaller circle back inside the larger circle by select both circles and using the ALIGN window to “align center” and “align middle.”

Now, you can ungroup the inner circle, and fill each half with a contrasting yet coordinating color. I used the advanced fill color features to really get the light blue and yellow I wanted.

Then, I decided to use the fork and knife from my Etched Bakeware project to create a divider between the two sides. To help you get a true sense for color, you can not only fill color, but choose your line color to match. And of course, I aligned the shape center and middle.

Note: I later went two shades darker on the gray.

Then, used the TEXT STYLE window to add my “squeaky clean” and “dirty dishes” text, using two of my favorite fonts: Callie Hand & Bebas. Instead of writing upside-down, I just highlighted all of the shapes and rotated them 90 degrees, which is a feature you can find by selecting OBJECT from the top menu, then ROTATE.

After creating two more color combinations, I decided to prep my magnets for printing. First, I turned registration marks on by selecting “style 1” in the REGISTRATION MARKS window on the top toolbar. (Registration marks help your machine know where your images are when it comes time to cut, so this is a very important step.) Then, I adjusted my PAGE SETTINGS so the page is defined as 8.5″ x 11″. Then, I filled up my page with as many circles as would fit without going past the red margin lines or the gray hatch marks.

Then, I ran a test-print on plain paper, which I’m so glad I did because I was able to see that my gray wasn’t dark enough and my magnets were a bit smaller than I wanted. So, I made my adjustments in Silhouette Studio, loaded my printer with my Printable Magnet Paper (so that it would print on the shiny white side), and printed it using photo printing settings; I find they print a bit crisper and brighter that way.

Now, before cutting, we have to tell the machine what to cut…because we just want that circular outline cut and not the rest of the design. So, you’ll find in the CUT SETTINGS window, you have the option to select “no cut,” which I did first (turning off all the red lines), and then I just selected “cut edge.” The red lines on my outer circle shows that that’s what my machine will cut…nothing else.

After that, my page was ready to be stuck to my mat, loaded into my Cameo, and cut. I will say that it’s easy to mix up the Printable Magnet Paper with the Adhesive Magnet Paper, so just be sure you have the right one when making your selection.

TIP: If you find your material is not properly adhering to your mat or is coming loose during cutting, don’t be afraid to use painter’s tape to tape down the edges onto your mat prior to cutting. I found that even with a pretty sticky mat, the magnet paper needed some painter’s tape to ensure it stayed stuck!

I always run test-cuts now, so I did that first, double-checking that the recommended settings of a blade depth of 4 were correct (which they were). Now, it took me a while to find the “test cut” option in the new V3 software. And the only way to use it is to not select “send to Silhouette” at the bottom of the CUT SETTINGS window (see above screenshot), but instead proceed to SEND TO SILHOUETTE window. There, you’ll see a teeny tiny triangle in the upper right-hand corner of the gray box. Select it while your mat and media is loaded and your machine will cut out a tiny box and triangle in the upper right-hand corner. Unfortunately, it appears like you can no longer make multiple test cuts in the new software.

Then, once I confirmed my blade depth was correct, I selected “start.” I’m always a bit amazed, but every time, my machine finds those registration marks and cuts right where it should. Like magic.

TIP: If you find your machine is not cutting where it should or fails to detect registration marks, there might not be enough light on your machine. Shine a flashlight on those registration marks as your machine spots them and that should do the trick!

Now, my next problem to solve is how to get the dishwasher to magically unload itself. I think I might need to text Mary Poppins to help me with that one….

Promotion Reminder

And I’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone that through Saturday, May 31st, you have the chance to get your hands on that Silhouette you’ve been dreaming of because Silhouette America is still running a massive sale on their machinesand specialty media galore! Here’s the skinny:

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase using my code, I receive a small commission. Please rest assured that as always, I only recommend products that I use and love like my Silhouette Cameo! (In fact, I’m officially obsessed.)

Lovely comments so far...

I LOVE it!!! I’m usually the only person in the house that knows if the dishes are clean or dirty since I am the only one that does them but a magnet like this would save a lot of trouble of my oldest or my husband calling me if I’m not home to ask if the dishes are clean or dirty!

I can totally relate! Mark and I are constantly asking, “clean or dirty?” Printing one of these ASAP and putting it to use! (This will also be great this summer when Marley is home and doing chores around the house!) Thanks girl!

Yay! So happy to hear that it will be of use in your household! No more check-ins about clean or dirty needed. And look at you, good Mama getting Marley to help out with chores. I need you to get my rear in gear over here with some chores, too. Any tips for laundry folding motivation?

Lauren I love these! All of the ones I’ve seen have not been pretty enough for my tastes, and I put making a pretty version towards the bottom of my project list. Thanks for giving us a ready made, pretty version!! I will be printing and cutting soon. I may even do it in V3.

Wow! I’m so glad to hear it has the Valerie stamp of approval. And that you think it’s pretty! (Imagine me skipping around the living room…because that is how I feel right now after reading your comment.) And yes, you can totally do it in V3. It really wasn’t the big bad scary monster I expected it to be. I promise!

Claire, one of the MANY things I love about you is that I can hear your voice so vividly in your writing…even in comments. Makes me miss you, girl! And wonder if we can squeeze in our lunch date before Haven…?

I cannot even describe how timely this post is! This very thing happened to my husband and I (several times) the other day! I was just saying how I wanted to make one of these handy magnets. Seriously, I just was! Now I am saying how much I want that Silhouette cutter! But really, this is pretty great. Also, I love the design – simple, clean (and a little dirty. hehehe) and completely adorable!

Ahhhhh! I’m still pinching myself that you’re married and have a “husband!” It’s so thrilling, Dusty. Really. I wish you two the utmost happiness!

And I love that we are so on the same page with the clean/dirty magnet handiness…and that you were thinking THE SAME THING. We’ve always been kindred spirits, Dusty, so in a way, it’s no surprise. And thanks for the compliments on the design! I was definitely going for all those things…so mission accomplished! 😉

At least we’re not the only ones with the dishwasher challenge! And thus far, the magnet is definitely working wonders in these parts. We need one of those signs like they have on job sites: ___ DAYS ACCIDENT FREE. But instead ___ DAYS SINCE OUR LAST REWASHING. Lol.

This is so clever! I don’t know how many times we forget if they are clean or dirty. I used to think if I kept it locked they were clean, but expecting Eric to do that every time was a loss cause, haha. Thanks for sharing! Pinned 🙂

Ha ha. Yeah, we were going by the ole “lock means clean” method, too, but we BOTH were guilty of unlocking it to grab a clean dish…and then failing to empty it. Now, neither of us have a good excuse for accidentally re-running it!

Oh Crystal, you can SO do it! I was really intimidated by print-and-cut, as well; but it really is not as scary as it seems. The registration marks do all the work for it. It’s magical! Just make sure you are working in plenty of light (natural light is the best) or have a flashlight handy to help your machine identify those registration marks before cutting. Happy creating! (And if you do end up making the magnets, I’d love it if you email me a pic so I can feature you in my next Reader Showcase.)

That’s right! I forgot that you can’t go back to V2 with the V3 files. Yes, you should TOTALLY upgrade. I was definitely skeered to do it, but I found that with the most recent update, it worked out the major kinks from the first release. I didn’t run into any issues on my first run. Hoping the same for you, Sharon!

Somehow, we managed to end up with a stainless steel dishwasher and fridge that are magnetic (I know not all of them are). Maybe you could use a sticky-backed clip to stick on the dishwasher and just clip a laminated sheet of cardstock to it? A bit of a workaround…but it might be worth it to save some water!

I love this magnet. It is so cute…I paid waaay to much for a suction cup version of one of these on amazon….unfortunately my dishwasher isn’t magnet either. But when this one breaks, which I’m sure it eventually will, I think I will hang one of these on a suction cup.

Pretty crazy, right? I’ve had it in my possession for a while now, too, and was just waiting for the right project for it…then, bam! I had the moment of inspiration about our dishwasher dilemma. So far, it’s working out great! Thanks for the warm words and pin-love, Jill.

That’s neat, I didn’t know the cricut could do magnets. We have a handcrafted version similar to your magnet on our dishwasher — but it has smiley faces so my toddler could tell which was clean and which was dirty! We LOVE our magnet…

Hey Lauren!! So stinking cute and thanks so much for the cut file!! Just an FYI, I have done several test cuts per project with V3 DE before. If you’re still having troubles let me know and I’ll post directions in the group tonight when I get home.

Oooo! Have you? I’d love to know how you manage the multiple test cuts. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to do that…and I’m guessing others might have the same question! Do post in the group if you can! 😉 Thanks, Heather.

Want, want, want, want, want! Seriously Lauren, is there anything you make that I don’t want? Right now I’m wishing that we lived closer so we could make things together!! Thanks so much for this project!

Well, let me say: I wish my only problem was unloading the dishwasher! I don’t need these magnets because I don’t have a dishwasher *cue dramatic wail and sob*
So how do I know when my dishes are dirty? Whenever they’re piled up to the left of my sink.
Seriously, my life is really tough.
On the bright side: lovely tutorial as always! 🙂

I SO wish I could make this work. Maybe when I am more familiar with my machine. Mine just keeps saying “registration failed”, even with a flashlight shining in there.
Really cute tho. Maybe some day I will get it. 🙂

This BLEW. MY. MIND. Truly, I am so honored and flattered that you were able to use my original design for your laser cut project. Can’t wait to feature you in my next Reader Showcase! Thanks for dropping by to share the exciting news, Kevin! Keep creating.

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I’m a New York gal putting down new roots in Orlando, Florida with my hubby and our sailboat. My heart skips a beat for all things creative, be it crafting, upcycling, sewing, journaling…especially blogging. If I can make you smile or ignite in you a spark of inspiration, then my job is done here. Won’t you grab a cup of chai, a comfy blanket, and stay a while? {read more...}

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